<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Merit by Lilitia</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23617294">Merit</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilitia/pseuds/Lilitia'>Lilitia</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Thunderbirds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Banter, Camaraderie, Family, Friendship, Gen, Jokes, Self Confidence, Self-Doubt, Self-Worth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:55:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,935</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23617294</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilitia/pseuds/Lilitia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Gordon is a young serviceman in the Navy WASP division, just as he believes he's started to prove his own merit outside of his family's shadow, he is suddenly given cause to doubt.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=rapid+Rodney">rapid Rodney</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: I own no rights to any of the Thunderbirds or Stingray universe. This is purely for fun and no profit etc. Don't sue.</p><p>Spoilers: Shouldn't be any as it's set pre series. Possible assumed knowledge from Thunderbirds original series, TAG S1-3 or Stingray.</p><p>Verse: Thunderbirds original series (with some Stingray).</p><p>Lilitia: Back in September rapid Rodney issued me with a prompt via a comment on my Thunderbirds story Used. I've sort of had an idea of what to do with it for some time but it took me a while to work out how to do it. I'm still not convinced I've done it justice, and I didn't get too in depth because my knowledge of military protocol is lacking. But, hopefully, the result is a nice tale of friendship and camaraderie.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/>
<p>Gordon Tracy shoved his hands deeper in his pockets as he walked, at a weird purposeful saunter. He knew his destination, but at the same time he want sure he wanted to get there.</p>
<p>The San Diego sun was beating down heavily as he made his way along the waterfront, between the both the natural and man made pens, docks and pools for training and shipping purposes for the World Navy. He kept his hands in his pockets to avoid scrubbing them through his hair in frustration.</p>
<p>He finally came to a stop at a railing overlooking a wildlife pen, a wry smile finally breaking through his stormy mood as he caught sight of a small group of vets and scientists. His hands finally leaving his pockets as he rested his forearms on the top railing to wait patiently. It was kind of soothing to watch them work, the way the vets cared and treated the sea lions and sea turtles.</p>
<p>He hadn't been there long when one of the scientists - who was busy taking ecological samples - turned around and spotted him, a large smile lighting up her face until she realised he didn't return it.</p>
<p>~-x-~</p>
<p>
  <em>The canteen was a bustling hub of activity as Gordon searched for a seat, finally spotting an almost empty table with two occupants, one man and one woman. "Mind if I sit here?"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Of course not." The woman replied with a bright smile. "I'm Natalie and this is Kinji-san." She introduced as Kinji nodded his head in greeting and Gordon returned it.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Gordon." He introduced himself and Kinji chuckled to himself as Natalie suppressed a giggle as she swatted at his arm. "What?" Gordon asked, almost smiling himself.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Natalie had her fortune told at a carnival a few months back." Kinji explained, clearly still amused. "Apparently she will marry a man called Gordon."</em>
</p>
<p>~-x-~</p>
<p>Since that day they'd all been good friends, and Gordon and Natalie had established themselves as work spouses. Mostly for their own amusement, but also because they had become very good friends over the last couple of years.</p>
<p>So he hadn't needed to say anything, she had known from his subdued expression that something was wrong, so she had scrambled out of the pool, shucked off her waders and loosely pulled her navy jacket on over her swimsuit to protect herself from the sun. "What happened?" She asked as they walked along the sea front. </p>
<p>Gordon sighed, stuffing his hands back in his pockets. "My application for the bathyscaphe command has been suspended, and I'm lucky I'm not on probation for 'ideas above my station'."</p>
<p>Natalie frowned in confusion. "What? Why?"</p>
<p>Gordon shook his head. "Rear admiral Frendor wants to kick me off the program. Apparently I'm lazy, irresponsible and have ridden an irrelevant family name and gold medal to my rank, that he claims I don't deserve."</p>
<p>Natalie stopped dead. Yes, Gordon was a joker, and he could be an almighty pain in the rear end, but when it mattered he was dependable and level headed. It took her a moment to get her head around what he was telling her. "What gave him that impression?" She asked, then paused. "Tell me you didn't -"</p>
<p>"I'm not that dumb!" Gordon objected. Natalie raised a half convinced eyebrow. He sighed and looked at his feet. "I must be a total jerk if you don't believe in me."</p>
<p>She punched his arm, making him look up. "I do believe in you." She scolded. "Work husband." She teased, making the corners of his lips twitch as if to smile. "But your pranks do sometimes - usually accidentally - cross your own line."</p>
<p>Gordon sighed, she had him there. "I came here to escape my name." He muttered, kicking at the concrete under their feet.</p>
<p>Natalie's expression softened, Gordon had told her enough about his family for her to understand that his penchant for jokes, his sunny nature was really a front to not only hide his loneliness as the second youngest of five brothers, but a way to disassociate himself from the Tracy legacy. He had joined the Navy's WASP program because of his love for the water, but even there he still sometimes got recognised because of his father when he wanted to escape that shadow. "Then what are you going to do about it?" Natalie challenged. "The Gordon Tracy I know doesn't give up this easily."</p>
<p>"What can I do? I have to keep my head down and survive probation or get kicked out of the navy."</p>
<p>"Fight back? You've usually got an ace up your sleeve." Natalie corrected. "That's why Taamir won't play cards with you anymore."</p>
<p>"That was one time!" Gordon objected, as Natalie bit her lip to stop herself laughing. "It did him some good to worry about winning for once." He added, before reading the look on her face, and his indignation evaporated. "I see what you did there." He admitted.</p>
<p>"Did it work?"</p>
<p>"Maybe." He admitted, there were cogs turning in his brain, but he wasn't sure where they were leading yet, but he knew not to try and force it and let his subconscious work out at least half the plan before trying to execute it. "What are you doing anyway?" He asked instead, shifting the conversation away from himself, he needed to think about something other than the bathyscaphe mission that half the base had applied for.</p>
<p>"Getting samples for my studies on marine creature diets." Natalie explained.</p>
<p>"Looked like you were just petting a seal to me." Gordon teased. Natalie didn't even blink as she reached up and managed to wind a hair around her finger and pulled. "Ow!" Gordon objected as his hand went to the top of his head.</p>
<p>"From this I can plot where you've been drinking water for the past few years." Natalie explained as she held it up between her hands. "We all carry markers of our environment in our systems, I've been collecting water and mineral samples, along with ecological samples to try and build up a complex model of local marine food chains. If we manage to get the level of information we hope we can, brass hope to expand on it with..." She trailed off.</p>
<p>"The marine farming expedition that I asked you not to talk about?" Gordon finished, and Natalie nodded guiltily.</p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was rare that the five Tracy brothers were under one roof again these days, with only Alan still at home - and set to go off to university in a year's time - it was really only Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter that would guarantee the whole family back together at the same time. It wasn't that they didn't try and visit and keep up with each other, it was just difficult to all clear their schedules at the same time.</p><p>This was different, John had just graduated from Harvard that summer, the ceremony had been on Thursday and so they had all managed to take the Friday off to stay for the weekend as a family. It made a nice change, Gordon realised, even though he had been relieved to finally get his independence at eighteen when he joined the World Navy, he did miss them all.</p><p>It was clear that John wasn't used to having all the attention on him, he was the quiet one, and typically invisible as the middle child. It had taken Gordon a while to work out that that was in part deliberate. "So, what's the plan now?" Scott asked as they tucked into dinner.</p><p>John shrugged. "I guess I was going to try and apply for astronaut training to get space certified." He admitted. "Otherwise apply for PhD projects in astrophysics."</p><p>"Aw, man, there's going to be a whole fleet of Tracy astronauts before I can even apply!" Alan grumbled.</p><p>"Well, dad's gotta retire at some point." Gordon added cheekily. "So you'll be back down to four."</p><p>"Watch it, young man." Jeff warned a rather innocent looking Gordon. By the time Scott was leaving for university it was clear that John and Alan were going to grow up to be astronauts like their father, both had a deep interest in space. None of them were particularly surprised that Gordon sidestepped it entirely, and similarly when Scott finished training with the World Air Force and applied to the astronaut program. None of them had expected Virgil to apply - if Gordon were honest, he wasn't sure Virgil had expected it either - but they hadn't been surprised he completed something he had put his mind to.</p><p>"Don't worry, Alan, I'm only getting space certified so that it won't interfere with any research." John assured the youngest brother, Alan shrugged indifferently, but they all knew that the teenager kind of appreciated it. Their father cast a long shadow, and their older brothers added to that.</p><p>Later that evening they were all lounging around outside in the warm weather, enjoying their downtime and hoping that the automation on the farm wasn't about to let them down. They would all chip in on the farm when they were available and it was necessary, but that didn't mean they weren't also glad when they didn't need to. John had disappeared to take a call from one of his friends who was out of the country, Scott had found an old chessboard and had challenged Gordon to a game that had engrossed the pair of them whilst Alan halfheartedly tried to distract them - it was only half-hearted as he was attempting to appear uninterested in what they were doing - and Virgil was messing around with an old guitar, which they were sure was because they knew Grandma would flip if he started tinkering with his latest engineering project on the patio.</p><p>John reappeared soon enough and peered over Gordon's shoulder. "Your rook can take his bishop."</p><p>"I'm not giving him free access to my queen!" Gordon objected good-naturedly, John shrugged before finding ha seat nearby.</p><p>"Since when did you have friends anyway?" Alan piped up from the homework he was completing on his knee.</p><p>"Harsh, Al." Scott scolded.</p><p>Alan shrugged. "What? Do you remember him having friends in school?"</p><p>"Yes." Virgil and Gordon replied, neither looking up from what they were doing.</p><p>"Seriously?"</p><p>"Al, you were barely in grade school when I was in middle school, what do you know about who I hung out with?" John retorted, and Alan scowled in thought before turning back to his textbook. John shook his head with an amused grin.</p><p>"Do we need to worry about who he's hanging out with?" Scott asked quietly.</p><p>"Do you remember <strong>your</strong> friends in high school?" John retorted making Gordon chuckle as he finally decided to set up a battle of pawns on one side of the board. Scott considered himself told, in retrospect not all of his friends had been great choices, Alan would grow up too one day. "Anyway, you've been quiet, Gordon, how's life in the WASPs?"</p><p>Gordon shrugged. "They've announced this year long research mission, I put in an application..." He admitted.</p><p>"But..?" Scott followed up as he took a pawn with his knight. Gordon turned to the board to hide his face. He didn't really want to talk about this with his perfect Air Force big brother in front of him ready to rebuke or patronise him.</p><p>"I'm probably one of the youngest applicants, I lack experience. Worth a shot though." Gordon shrugged as chipper manner as he could.</p><p>"Then prove your worth with something else." Virgil piped up as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, and they all turned to him as he strummed a quiet chord to test the strings he'd just tuned. "What?"</p><p>"Virg has a point, they wouldn't even consider your application if experience was all they were after." John added. Gordon nodded as the cogs that Natalie had started turning gained traction.</p>
<hr/><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Lilitia: Just a quick note on the ages of the boys, because I'm aware that there are so many conflicting sources on this and everyone has their preferred one (in my case the one I grew up assuming to be correct). I've started using the Thunderbirds Information Sheet (hosted on TICipedia) as the standard reference for the original series.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"This isn't really my speciality." Natalie started.</p><p>"All I need you to do is monitor my readouts." Gordon reiterated as finished testing the equipment he'd brought with them.</p><p>Natalie turned from Gordon, to the computer he'd set up, to the prototype he'd made, to the swimming pool and back again. "Should I even ask?"</p><p>"I'm proving my worth, that I'm more than just a pretty face." Gordon teased, Natalie rolled her eyes but the amusement was written all over her face.</p><p>"Pretty face? Whoever gave you that idea?" She teased, Gordon chuckled. "Seriously, what are we doing?"</p><p>"I developed a new breather mask, if I'm right, I've improved efficiency by at least a third which will drastically increase the longevity of our air tanks." Gordon explained, and Natalie gaped at him. "We're testing it out."</p><p>"What?" Natalie demanded, clearly shocked.</p><p>"You asked where my ace was, this is it." Gordon explained. "Maybe I'm not cut out for command, but I know I work hard, I'm a damn good swimmer, I can keep my head in a crisis and I sometimes have genius ideas. I'm not the smartest guy in the world - hell, my brother just graduated from Harvard doing physics! - but I have smarts, so why not use them to prove I deserve my place in the WASPs - if not the mission - if my record doesn't speak for itself?"</p><p>For a while the only sound was the gentle lapping of the pool water against the tiles as Natalie regarded him calmly. "Okay, what's your plan?" She asked.</p><p>Gordon explained that he wanted her to monitor the displays he'd set up, quickly explaining what each was, and that he had given himself enough air to stay underwater for twenty minutes if his calculations were correct. Natalie asked why she wasn't wearing the breather if he understood the readouts, he admitted that not only did he not know her actual lung capacity to work out timings - whereas he knew his from his physicals -, but he wasn't about to let anyone - and especially not one of his best friends and work wife - put themselves in danger in place of himself. Natalie pointed out that he was heavier than her if she needed to rescue him, Gordon had shrugged and pointed out that they both knew she was a very strong swimmer and he had no doubts about her ability to play life-guard.</p><p>Despite her better judgement, Natalie couldn't argue against what he said. "All right, but you come up after twenty minutes no matter how much air you think you have left." She stated firmly, Gordon beamed at her and agreed.</p><p>He took a seat on the side of the pool and attached the breather. "Can you hear me?" He checked the comm.</p><p>"Yep, 5 by 5." Natalie confirmed.</p><p>"Okay, then start - whoa!" A loud splash interrupted any other thought Gordon might have had as Natalie pushed him into the pool with a firm foot against his back. "Hey!" He laughed.</p><p>"Timer's started, pretty boy." Natalie warned with an amused smirk as she turned back to the consoles.</p><p>"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" Gordon checked as he dived.</p><p>"Of course not." Natalie confirmed as she rummaged through her pockets for her celery snacks.</p><p>The next twenty minutes passed by as Natalie updated Gordon on the readouts on her screen and friendly banter between the two friends as Gordon did underwater lengths of the pool, lingering in the deep end before starting over. "Okay, that's twenty minutes and you're reading ten percent left." Natalie confirmed. "Time to surface."</p><p>"Let me just finish this lap."</p><p>"Gordon!" Natalie snapped, exasperated.</p><p>"Okay, okay!" He relented with a chuckle, and surfaced in the middle of the pool to find Natalie levelling her best glare at him.</p><p>A few moments later and he had climbed out of the pool and put the prototype breather down and Natalie threw a towel at him, that he caught in a dignified manner with his head, causing them both to chuckle. "What do you plan to do with all this?" Natalie asked indicating the equipment he'd brought with him.</p><p>"Now I just need to double check the data we've gathered to find out if I'm right, then write it up into a proper design proposal after making any tweaks based on this test." Gordon explained, roughly towelling his hair dry.</p><p>"And if they ask how you got your data?"</p><p>"Well I'm hardly going to tell them I broke into one of the training pools after hours, am I?" Gordon teased.</p><p>"Gordon, you once got caught in the captain's mess and your excuse was that the sugar shaker you'd swapped out for sugar had gone to the wrong place." Natalie reminded him, and in fairness, it was one of his more infamous moments, and why she was always worried who's coffee he had accidentally dosed this time.</p><p>"Well what was I supposed to say?"</p><p>"That you were watering the plants? Checking if anything needed cleaning? General captain yeoman's duties." She suggested.</p><p>"I wasn't the yeoman."</p><p>"Would they have noticed that?" Natalie challenged, though they both knew it was a question they'd never know the answer to. Gordon shrugged as he finished drying himself and turned to pull his trousers on over his swimwear. He caught Natalie looking wistfully at the water.</p><p>"Wishing I'd got in trouble so you'd have the excuse to jump in?" He teased.</p><p>Natalie gave him a wry chuckle as she turned back to finishing turning things off, she knew better than to risk getting caught by going for a dip herself, no matter how much she'd like to. "I dunno, how much would you owe me for saving you?" She teased instead, making him chuckle.</p><hr/><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Lilitia: I belatedly realised I should mention that Admirals Carson, Denver &amp; Frendor are minor characters from the original series of Stingray. As it's not a crossover fic (in the usual sense) I didn't check if their character tags existed.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>Gordon had never been particularly good at sitting still, and he had taken to drumming against the seat or his legs to stop himself fidgeting and therefore creasing the trim of his uniform as he waited to be summoned into the office he was sat outside of.</p><p>He had submitted the designs for his new breathing apparatus two days earlier, and it had caused quite a stir in his command chain. All of them asking themselves where this had come from, and why, and what did he think he was doing by working on engineering projects whilst not being trained as an engineer? By now he knew that the engineers had fully vetted his design, and confirmed his data and put in a request for further development.</p><p>That didn't mean command didn't think he'd overstepped his reach.</p><p>"Tracy." Gordon stopped drumming as he heard the stern voice calling his name from the doorway, that was his cue. Time to face the music. Could this be any worse than the various times he'd been called to the principals office? Or indeed his father's desk?</p><p>He followed vice admiral Denver into the office where rear admiral Frendor, captain Carson and a couple of other senior officers he didn't know were seated. He knew the bathyscaphe mission was vice admiral Denver's project and he had overall say on the matter but had a board of senior officers aiding the decision process, captain Carson was his CO. "Do you know why we called you here today?" Frendor asked.</p><p>Gordon nodded. "Yes, sir, to explain my recent breather design submission."</p><p>He chanced a glance at Carson, but couldn't read his expression, the rest of seemed rather taken aback by his lack of contriteness. "Please, go on then." Frendor decided, looking as if he was happily walking Gordon into a trap.</p><p>Gordon had grown up with four brothers, he knew a trap when he saw one, and he knew how to dodge it. Jeff Tracy was his father, he had learnt how to talk himself out of trouble. "I'm sorry if I overstepped by bounds, but the reason I submitted it was so that I could get some qualified engineers to check my work. I know I'm an amateur, but I also know when I have enough knowledge to be onto something. I knew that this could work, even if I needed help to work out the kinks, and I also knew that if it did work, then it could save lives and resources in the future." He explained honestly. "Is that not why we have the channels I submitted it to? Or should I keep potentially life saving ideas to myself in future because it's not in my remit?" He challenged.</p><p>That time he did catch the way captain Carson had to school his proud smile back into a neutral expression. Rear admiral Frendor looked quietly furious. "This arrogance -"</p><p>"Arrogance?" Gordon interrupted with faux outrage. "Arrogance would be assuming my design was perfect as I submitted it. This is collaboration, Admiral." Gordon internally cringed as he realised he might have been a bit too cheeky there.</p><p>There was a moment of stunned silence as the senior officers didn't know how to react to this bold as brass serviceman, then vice admiral Denver roared with laughter. "You've got spirit, Tracy." He admitted.</p><p>"Thank you, sir." Gordon replied. "If I may?" He asked and Denver nodded. "I know I lack experience, and I know my off-duty antics occasionally have on-duty effects, despite my best efforts to keep them separate. However, I had hoped to prove that I am not just here because of my name, that I have skills and knowledge to be put to good use. I know when to ask for corroboration or advice and I'm not afraid to use my initiative and take charge when required."</p><p>Vice admiral Denver regarded him coolly for a moment before nodding. "That will be all, Tracy, dismissed." He confirmed, and Gordon happily left the room.</p><p>~-x-~</p><p>"Well?" Kinji asked as Gordon arrived at their lunch table with his tray. The personnel decisions on the bathyscaphe mission had been given out that morning.</p><p>"How'd it go?" Natalie added.</p><p>"Don't tell me you got kicked out?" Taamir added, clearly worried.</p><p>Gordon glanced at his lunch, quickly wondering how long he could keep them guessing for, but he was already struggling to keep face. "They gave me command of the mission." He admitted breaking into large grin.</p><p>"Yes! I knew it!" Natalie admitted. "Kinji, you owe me five packs of celery snaps."</p><p>"You bet in snacks? Why not money?" Taamir challenged.</p><p>"Don't get between her and her celery." Gordon warned the other man, who realised he had a point there.</p><p>"Anyway, we need to celebrate this! I'll message Amelia and Ruby before we go back on duty, then we can get a party organised before we ship out." Natalie started plotting as she tapped away on her watch.</p><p>"Why do <strong>you</strong> want to celebrate?" Kinji asked. "You do realise Gordon is going to be your commander for a whole year?"</p><p>Natalie stopped dead as the realisation sank in. "Oh... no..." She whispered as Gordon's grin turned devious.</p><p>"Don't worry, I'll play nice." Gordon assured her. "Mostly."</p><p>Natalie, however, had recovered herself as she gave him a look that suggested he had bitten off rather more than he could chew. "I don't think you're the one to worry about, pretty boy."</p><p>The way she said it reassured Kinji and Taamir that they hadn't missed a major surprise development, but did make them both howl with laughter. "Pretty boy?" Kinji quoted. "Who called you that?"</p><p>Natalie just pointed at Gordon, who looked affronted. "It was a joke." He defended. "You know it was a joke!" He added to Natalie, who just shrugged innocently.</p><p>"Shall we start a sweepstake on how long this mission will actually survive?" Taamir posed, and Kinji started drawing up odds.</p>
<hr/><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Lilitia: Okay, Frendor might have been treated a little harshly in this, he hasn't done anything to earn my ire, he was just the unlucky sod who got picked to play the awkward admiral.</p><p>Ah well, hopefully people enjoyed reading this, I wanted to avoid anything too heavy whilst covering a potential problem in Gordon's brief WASP career.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>